The Ramsey Show - Normal Sucks! You Don’t Want To Be Normal

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

💵 Sign-up for EveryDollar today - The simplest way to budget for your life! Dave Ramsey & Rachel Cruze answer your questions and discuss: "How can I help my father handle an inheritance?" "When should we pause Baby Step 2?" "How much should we spend on a vehicle?" "Why does Dave hate SoFi?" "What should I do with money in savings?" Support Our Sponsors: Churchill Mortgage BetterHelp Zander Insurance Next Steps 📞 Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET or click here! 🏦 Take Your 3-Minute Money Assessment - Get a personalized money plan! 🍎 Enter the Teacher Appreciation Giveaway 📊 Dave Ramsey's personal playbook on investing and real estate. 📖 I'm Glad For Where I Am Listen to more from Ramsey Network 🎙️ The Ramsey Show   🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 💰 George Kamel 💼 The Ken Coleman Show 📈 EntreLeadership Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, number one bestselling author, co-host of the Smart Money Happy Hour, insanely popular podcast on the Ramsey Networks, and my daughter. She's my co-host today. The phone number here, if you want to talk about your life and your money, the phone number is 888-825-5225. Jennifer starts this hour in Baltimore. Hi, Jennifer.

How are you? Hi. I'm doing well. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So I am actually calling on somebody else's behalf, somebody who I think might need some help, but maybe doesn't think that they do. So my father is actually going to be inheriting close to a million dollars in the next couple months. And as I've gotten older and starting to ask more pointed questions, realizing he really hasn't planned for his retirement, he kind of just assumed he'd be getting enough to retire.

And now says, you know, obviously a million dollars isn't as much as he thought he's not going to be able to live off that. And I've just seen a couple generations before me really kind of mismanage money that they've inherited. And I'm hoping to kind of do something different. That you're going to do something different or he is? He says he's open to my recommendations. How old is he, Jennifer? He's 65, 67.

Okay. Okay. And so has he got a bunch of debt? So I've found out that he has a HELOC out on the house for about a hundred thousand dollars. Um, he was contributing to, uh, 401k for a while, um, while his employer was matching. And when they stopped matching, he stopped contributing. Um, he doesn't have a Roth IRA. Um, he's got some, um, dividends and some like stock, um, money that he does receive quarterly.

Um, and he's got gold squirreled away. But he says, you know, financial planners are parasites and high yield savings accounts are scams. And so, you know, he's only now looking into putting things in a trust and maybe getting life insurance and getting a will done. But he really kind of has just been banking on getting money. Was he banking on this money from this inheritance? Like was it from a parent and he was just waiting or what was that? So I waited until 65 years old before I win. Yeah. So when my great-grandmother passed, she had about $24 million in her estate.

And that was unfortunately embezzled, gambled away a lot by one of my great-uncles. So it also wasn't in a trust. So the government took half. And when my grandparents were getting older, they decided their philosophy was the government's just going to take most of it, so we want to try to get rid of it. So they did kind of sporadic payouts. I mean, they were very generous in covering health care expenses for myself, for all of my cousins, paid for college for their children. So what do you think the best thing to happen today is for your dad? I want him to get rid of the HELOC, and I want him to look into investing property

or some advice of where he could be putting money other than just, you know, he took a $100,000 HELOC out of the house and put it into the stock market. And that's where the dividends came from. Yes. And so, you know, I've been trying to work with my sister. Okay, so here's the thing. Number one, I don't think this is going to work, okay? Your dad has a 40-year period of sitting on his cynical hands,

doing nothing and waiting on someone else to spoon feed him. The fact that at 65 years old, he's going to jump up and grow a new brain, that's pretty wishful thinking. Yeah. Okay. I wish it wasn't true, but I'm 63, and the chance of me growing a new brain is pretty low. I'm pretty set in my ways

so whatever screwed up about old Dave's probably going to stick that way so um it's just hard to teach an old dog new tricks I'm one of them and um you can ask the one sitting next to me she's tried she's tried to teach me some new tricks and I hadn't learned them one I just give suggestions so I know yeah you do and that's what Jennifer's trying to do, give suggestions. No, I know. But Jennifer, I hear your heart, and I really do appreciate it. But the reality is our parents are set in their ways. I'm not picking on your dad. I'm probably just like him.

I've got the spiritual gift of cynicism, too. But, I mean, these people are all parasites and scam artists. No, they're not. That's a dumb-butt statement, okay? They're not all parasites and scam artists. Now, some financial people are goobers, but there's some goobers in almost any profession, whatever profession he came out of. There's a crook or two hanging out there, too.

But there's good people in the financial world that can sit down, and what he needs is someone to teach him from the financial world, like a good smart investor pro, what's available, and what his job is as the manager of a million dollars of God's money. You are now the manager of God's money. Your job is to manage it well. And so get the stupid gold sold, pay off the home equity loan immediately, learn to live on a budget, go be a productive citizen, create something instead of sitting around waiting on someone else.

Talk about parasites, waiting on someone else to feed you, waiting on mom and dad's dadgum inheritance money to come in. Bless his heart. I mean, I feel sorry for him. He really needs, he's missed out on so much good that life had for him, and I hope for the next 20 years before he dies, he's got some good coming to him where he gets the opportunity to serve others and create something and contribute to society and walk with the dignity that

that brings. That's what I want for him. So, but I, and that's what you want for him. And I, my problem is I don't know that he said he's willing to take your input until you tell him something he doesn't like.

Am I wrong? No. And what's been really frustrating is trying to give him advice while stroking his ego. Yeah. No, I'm not going to stroke his ego. I'm not going to do it. So you can tell. So the thing is this.

What I want to help you with is what you're attempting to do is very kind and very noble, and it is the proper thing to do. But I want to give you realistic expectations because I don't want you to come away from this disappointed that you couldn't do it, because I'm going to give you a 5% chance you pull this off because you're trying to change other people. And until they really want to change, you can do it i do it for a living and i have had to learn that i don't answer questions that aren't asked when you ask a question i'm going to answer it because that's my duty but i'm not going to just walk up to people start preaching at them because they don't do

nothing they just look at you like like you know and do nothing so i mean like a friend of mine leased a car drove it up in front of my house the other day and he knows i think leasing cars are stupid you know and he drove it up in front of my house so what am i gonna do go you're stupid no i said you know you know i didn't say that i said great car he didn't ask my opinion right he just brought his car over to show it to me so great but i think jennifer a goal would be if he could sit down with a third party a smart buster pro and at least just have an initial meeting to see his options. Part of a teacher. They're there to teach you, not to do it for you.

That would be a good goal. But if you can get them there, and then what he chooses to do after, I don't know. That's your first step. Go to RamseySolutions.com. Click on SmartVestor. They can help guide him to get his will done. He's got to get that done. Talk about giving the government money.

Try not doing a will. Oh, my gosh. You let the government money. Try not doing a will. Oh my gosh. You let the government be in control of it. No, but please, honey, don't be disappointed if this doesn't all work out. This is the Ramsey Show. Buying your first home is a big deal and sets the stage for your financial success. So work with a mortgage advisor you trust, not just some random website. Churchill Mortgage is Ramsey trusted because they help you avoid hidden traps and expertly guide you through every step. Learn more at churchillmortgage.com. This is a paid advertisement in MLS ID 1591 in MLS consumeraccess.org. Equal housing lender. 1749 Mallory Lane, Suite 100. Brentwood, Tennessee 37027.

Well, you know what happens after the 15th of April? The worst day ever. You know what happens the next day? Awesome stuff. Anything's better than the 15th of April. On the 16th of April, the next day, Rachel's new book will come out. So you've got to have a little celebration after tax season. I'm glad for where I am.

A new book on gratitude for your kiddos. And Lauren did a great job with these illustrations. Yes, Lauren Gallegos. Shout out to her. We love her. And she's just sweet as she can be anyway. But her illustrations are just amazing. I mean, this kid.

And so this is all about gratitude. The other one was about contentment. I'm glad for what I have. This is home. Home is where the heart is. That's right. Yeah. So when I was writing it, I was like, how do you teach it?

Because contentment, gratitude, generosity are like three principles that are really important for me to teach my kids and just kind of that that emotional side of money and when you think about gratitude with kids I'm like you know of course like saying thank you and manners like all of that is important but for these little ones I'm like when you can start to grasp the things that that can't be taken away from you you know this idea of like the love of your family your home not just your house but, the environment, when you can start there and that'd be the foundation at which they learn gratitude, I think is sweet. So the little animals, they go on an adventure to learn that really where they belong is where they were. And God specifically has put them in

a place for a certain time. And the more grateful you are, the more your heart grows is the last little sentence of the book, but it's really sweet. It's a great one. the more grateful you are the more your heart grows is the last it's the last little sentence of the book but it's really sweet it's a it's a great one so i hope you guys enjoy it it's gonna be fun it comes out a week from now and uh you're gonna do a little book tour with it right yes you're gonna do some signings a little book reading yeah so next week i'm hitting the road so i'll do some um i'll be in new york doing some media next Tuesday, a week from now, and then fly to Phoenix. So I'll be in Phoenix. You have the, read those off. Phoenix at Desert Ridge, Barnes & Noble from 1 to 2 in the afternoon doing a signing.

On Wednesday. And read the book and then do a signing for the kiddos. And then over to L.A. on the 18th from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble at the Grove. Oh, that's a good store. I've been to most. I've been to all these stores. Okay, and Dallas, Lincoln Park from 1 to 2 p.m., another good store, Barnes & Noble.

All these are Barnes & Nobles. Atlanta at Mansell Crossing. Really? That's cool. 426, you'll be there. That'll be the next week. That's the next week. Yep, yep.

And that's from 1 to 2 p.m. So book tours are kind of uh so we used to go around do 40 cities and do signings and do media in every city and all this when we launch a book and they're kind of out of vogue number one there's not many bookstores left um they're just about gone uh number two there's a lot of the local media is gone it's dried up and so that methodology of launching and marketing a book and going out there is gone. But you're kind of just doing this almost for fun. Yes. Well, I wanted to. I wanted to with the first one. And so the way timing worked out with holidays didn't. So when this one came out,

I was like, I really do. I want to go. Yeah. And and be with people and be with your kids. So make sure to do that. And you can still preorder for the next week. And if you do that, you'll actually get a link. I'm going to do a story time via Zoom at the end of April for everyone that pre-orders. So at 7 o'clock, I'll do a big reading. My kids will be there and all of it.

So you can get that link if you pre-order. And so you can go to rachelcruz.com for that. Yeah. Well, spoiler alert, I've already been reading it

to the grandkids and they love it. So particularly Daniel's little boy, he's like, Papa Dave, you've got to read. Papa Dave, you've got to read. And we know that, I mean, we know all the data. Parents that read, kids that get read to,

their IQs go up, their EQs go up. They are most likely going to be readers and writers. And people that read, you know, when we're interviewing somebody for a leadership position at Ramsey, we ask what books they've read because there are no real leaders that aren't readers. You've got to be constantly growing and the

only way to do that is to be feeding your brain. We know all the data on this and it starts at this age. It's a short book, parents, so you're welcome for that too because I hate the bedtime stories. Just keep going. It's short. How is it that at four

they already know which of the dr zeus's is oh and you can't and you can't skip a page because i mean i do not like green eggs and ham sam i am i'm just saying all right chris is with us chris is in memphis tennessee hi chris welcome to the ram. Hey, good almost afternoon, y'all. Yeah, it is. How come we out? Hey, so my wife and I just found out that we are expecting our second child. We are overjoyed at this. We have a two-year-old.

We'll over it. Yay. Awesomeness. And we've also just started getting our act together financially. Um, we've been debt free actually two times in our four year marriage and apparently learned nothing. And so we're, we're finally at a point I've been binge watching you guys. Um, shout out to the YouTube moderators. Um, I always love seeing the comments there and their responses.

But, um, my question is relative to, so we're in Baby Step 2. We have $1,000. We're attacking our credit card debt. We have about $42,000 of total debt, including student loans, credit cards, and a Jeep that you're probably going to tell me to sell. But I'm kind of confused about stork mode we already we still have pretty much everything from our first child my wife plans on taking three to six months off to be home with both of our kids she's a nurse I work in the automotive industry and I guess my question is when should i pause attacking our debt like crazy

and start saving up for the uncertainty of having a child now right now yeah push pause on the whole total money makeover thing and pile up cash so here's the thing how much cash can you pile up in nine months? Um, if we stop paying off debt, probably 12 to 14,000. Okay. So 15,000 bucks is in the account because you are going to stop paying off debt if you follow what we tell you to do. Um, and baby comes healthy, no problem. Insurance covers were supposed to cover mama's healthy. no problem. Insurance covers what it's supposed to cover. Mama's healthy, no problem. They come home from the hospital. Three days later, you clean out that account and pay it down on the debt. The amount that you lost by doing that is really close to zero. You lost no traction. You will be in exactly the same place 10 months from now if you pay down on the debt by $15,000

or if you put $15,000 in the account and then pay down on the debt. I mean, the only difference would be a little bit of interest on the debt that you'd pay during that nine months, but it's negligible. It's less than $40 or $50, okay? So we're not really playing. And what that $15,000 gives you is peace of mind what it gives her is peace of mind because uh you know what we want to concentrate on is the beauty and the elegance of the birth and another child coming not be distracted by any money crap like if there's a little hiccup of some

kind you know think about it. You got the money. Yeah. Chris, how much do you guys make a year? Total this year, we're on track to be right under $100,000. Okay. And how much was the Jeep when you were like, oh, the Jeep, you're going to tell me to sell it. But how much is that? It's worth about $20,000.

The remaining loan balance on it is $11,000. Yeah. Okay. That's not necessarily selling. If you're making $100,000, that's not Yeah. No, that's not necessarily selling. If you're making 100, that's not selling. No, yeah, you're fine. What I was going to say, if there was like one big move you wanted to do, if it was at a point where that car payment was so exhausting and you could sell it and make some money on it, right,

or something like that, if there was a situation there, I would be okay if you did that. But just in general, just pausing and having cash in the bank during this is, yeah. Let me fast forward 10 months, okay? You save $15,000, baby's home, you pay off $15,000 in debt. What's going to keep you on track this time? My wife and I are really looking further than six months in the future. We've been living in an inherited home that we're actually starting to look towards

purchasing from her parents and looking at that has made us take a much longer perspective on everything what do you do in the automotive industry um i work as a program manager i connect suppliers with warehouses across the country to help them get their parts into parts stores and onto your car. Okay. All right. Are you 25? I'm 29. Okay.

All right. Cool. All right. Because now's the time, dude. You don't get to restart this crap six times and go win. You need to play through this time for the sake of this cat. And hold on the line, Chris. Austin will pick up, and I'll give you my new kid's book.

I'm glad for where I am, and I'm glad for what I have. I'll give you both for the little ones. We're going to give you Financial Peace University, too. Why don't you go through that? I want you to play through this time. I want you to finish. Finish well, my man. Finish well.

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. This is the season for Halloween. It's October. We're wearing costumes and we're wearing masks. If you haven't started planning your costume yet, get on it. And while you're thinking about it, I want you to be honest. A lot of us hide ourselves. We hide our true selves behind costumes and masks all the time. We do this at work. We do this around our friends. We do this around our families. We even do this when we look at ourselves in the mirror. I know because I've been there multiple times in my life and it's the worst. If you feel like you're stuck hiding behind masks and costumes all the time, if you find yourself hiding from your true self, I want you to consider talking with a therapist. Therapy is a place where you can be honest,

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and you'll be matched with a licensed therapist. Plus, you can switch therapist at any time for no additional cost. Take off the costumes and take off the mask with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash Deloney to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp.com slash Deloney. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, number one bestselling author, is my co-host today. Victoria is with us in Springfield.

Hey, Victoria, how are you? I'm well. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, I was calling because I'm curious to find out how I can get my name off of my parents' debt. How did your name get on your parents' debt? So apparently when we were younger, they put my and my brother's name on their credit cards to build credit, which at the time may have been a good idea. However, no, it wasn't. It was called identity theft. Yeah. They've been overspending a lot and that's reflecting on my credit score.

And then it was about two years ago. We, um, we've been timeshare owners for a very long time. And about two years ago, they added my brother and I as owners, but we have no idea in terms of like what to do with this timeshare. And it's kind of becoming a big financial headache for the family. And so I kind of want out because to me, it's not worth all the arguments and the financial stress that it's causing yeah this is a it's something that we're seeing more and more our parents so just as a warning for parents out there that this is a trend that is going on that people are doing this they're putting their kids on their debt or on their credit card specifically thinking oh yeah we're going to build up their credit and then this is what ends up happening victoria is that you get the the brunt end of it so at that end i'm like um have you talked to them about them taking your

name off of the credit card specifically the timeshare will be more complicated yeah so we've thought it up to them because now it's to the point where like my brother and sister-in-law can't buy another house because their debt to income ratio is affected by their credit card debt like my parents credit card debt so it's kind of been a family discussion and so my parents moved their credit or the debt that they had on one credit card to another credit card that has a 0% interest and does not have our names on it. And then they need to close that other account.

Exactly. And that gets your names off of it. I think they still owe a little bit more on that. Pay it off and close the account. That gets your name off of it. Yeah. You guys are like being midwestern sweet people hillbillies would have already like punched somebody

this is this is just not okay you should be angry yeah it's one of the things where it's caused a lot of like family fights and yeah you know just because we're i'm new to the ramsey method it's not the ramsey method it's called illegal it's criminal fraud okay i mean it's great you when you add somebody else's name to a legal document without having a power of attorney to do so that's called criminal fraud i mean it's illegal it's like serious you don't just god man what people are doing i mean i know people are doing it yeah but it's illegal as heck man well when you put their name as a minor specifically it's on it illegal well they're not taking it and opening it solely in their name but the point is is that it's effect it's it's illegal. Well, they're not taking it and opening it solely in their name.

But the point is, is that it's affecting Victoria, obviously, and all of it. It's straight up stupid. So, I mean, yeah. So, Victoria, I mean, that's the answer is for them to pay it off, close the account. But then when you get into- And then, you know, call and yell at the timeshare company and go, I did not give you permission to put, no one has permission to put my name on there. And if you don't take my name off of there in like 36 seconds my attorney is going to punch your lights out i mean you need to get up in some people's grill yeah because i want my name off of it just listen let me tell you a timeshare is a is legalized fraud it's a horrible product and so your parents are such wonderful people that they signed their kids up for two of the worst financial products on the planet timeshares

and credit cards god what kind of parents are these she can't control the parents i know i'm not yelling at her i'm just saying that these guys man so if i'm you i'm going for the juggler on this i mean you need to for the juggler on this. I mean, you need to get the timeshare people on the line and ring them out. You do not have my signature. I am not responsible. And if you don't take my name off of this, I'm going to own your little company. Because that's true, Victoria, right?

You didn't sign your name in it. You're not liable. It's identity theft. I'm double-checking that they weren't at Christmas and the parents were like, here, sign this. And she forgot about it or realized I was just double checking. You didn't sign anything, right, Victoria? No, the credit cards they put me on, the timeshare, I did sign two years ago because we had the knowledge.

There we go. Okay. No, it's okay. You need to figure out how to get my name out of it. Exactly. So, helper, how does she get out of it? I have no idea. I mean, you signed up for a timeshare. How do you get out of it exactly so helper how do you how does she get her how does she get out of i have no idea i mean you signed up for a timeshare how do you get out of a timeshare you can't you're

stuck in a thicket of briars um i mean if the family can talk the timeshare company into retitling this i'll be shocked but oh god uh i mean how do you if you call me up just say i just bought a timeshare i would go well that was really a ridiculously dumb activity so uh which is you know and now how do i get out of it you they're almost impossible to get out of they're just horrible it's a it's a grotesque industry yeah and they they feed on the weak and um oh um i i honestly don't know how to tell you other than hire an attorney and uh start talking to them about how you're going to sue them if they don't let you take you off of it and some of these attorneys go after timeshare companies and do a good job with them um but if the parent if if, if everyone came in, cause she said her brother or sister was

in on it too. So if it was her and the sibling and the parents, if they all got an attorney together to try to get out, is that a better way or getting out a fourth would be more difficult? Do you know what I mean? Like if there could be an agreement that they all get out, is that an easier way? You could get this particular set of parents to do anything. Um, let's pretend you could get this particular set of parents to do anything um let's pretend you could do that okay and they actually did start the legal process together i can't depend on them to finish it because they're the things they're willing to do to their own children is baffles the mind okay but i mean really it does i hear you but the authorized

user on credit cards is a legal thing, and people are doing that today. It is not a legal thing. Yes, it is. Authorized users. Authorized user is not liable for the debt. They didn't sign up authorized user. They were owners of the account. Yeah, but they're getting the credit.

It shouldn't be showing up on their credit bureau if they're just an authorized user. It's not supposed to. You could clear, that's a different issue. You could clear that off, because an authorized user is not an owner of the account. They the account they're not liable yes but they do get the perks of the credit of the account supposed to they're not supposed to but they are because they're not an owner of the account they're not financially responsible for the account and so yeah this is what this is where stupid parents are doing to their kids they're just ridiculous and if you're doing this to your kids you're stupid you should stop it don't mess up your kid's life this poor lady right here's dealing with people like you if

you're doing this to your kid so gosh i'm so sorry honey i don't have an answer for you get the credit cards closed completely down we'll get that'll get rid of it either way um and then you've got a fight on your hands with the idiot timeshare industry. It is the most grotesque, fraud-filled, horrible industry on the planet. They're just awful. It's just the worst. And I've dealt with them for 20 years trying to get people out. We had a company that did it for a while, and the company went sideways. And so screwed up.

If you had to, Dave, George and I played this game on happy hour would you either have a timeshare or a leased car I don't have to enter I don't have to enter the land of stupid and pick one option okay I just I'm gonna turn around and leave the land of stupid I'm not gonna pick one of the options so why would I do that so it's a fun game it's not a fun game just the light in the mood no it's not nothing light about It's not a fun game. Just the light and the mood. No, it's not. There's nothing light about it. It just aggravates me. But yeah, so gosh, Victoria, I'm sorry.

I'm just angry for you. This just pisses me off that your mom and dad would treat their own children this way. It's affecting your brother and sister-in-law's ability to buy a home. This is awful. It's just awful. And, you know, the fact that your family is so freaking dysfunctional that your Christmas present is the opportunity to sign, to co-sign on a timeshare. No, I don't know if that was true. I was using that as an example.

Just when you come back Christmas, sign up. You know, it's just like. Well, I don't know if that was what happened. I know. I know. But I'm just. It's what happened. It's the way this family works.

So I'm so sorry for you. I do not know. The only thing I know how to do is go after the timeshare business the only way they understand, and that's a metaphorical two-before-to-the-face. It's the only thing you can do to get their attention. You have to hit them hard. It's the only thing they get. They are a nasty, fraudulent industry.

They're horrible. Have I been unclear, Americaica this is the ramsey show one of the questions i get all the time is which life insurance company should i use for my term life policy a valid question since there are hundreds of companies out there with rates all over the place and writers and add-ons that are simply a waste of money. You need to get this done and make the right decision. That's why the only company I use and have recommended for over 25 years is Zander Insurance. Zander is a broker who shops the top term life companies for you

and finds the best rates available from the only plans I recommend. They also save you time. Whether you want to work online, over the phone, or via text, their team will cater to your needs and help you make the right decision. This is an absolute necessity, and Zander has made the process easy and convenient. Call them at 800-356-4282 or visit zander.com for instant online quotes. Well, just before showtime, Preston Cannon, our vice president of publishing Ramsey Press, brought in a brand new copy of Ken's new book, which comes out in May. Actually the thing, yeah. So find the work you're wired to do.

It includes a code in the back. It's got this little tear-off thing, and when you tear it off, it's going to open up, and you'll see the code to enter for the Get Clear Career Assessment. We've sold almost 100,000 of those assessments to you folks. They're very good. It's one of the best digital products we've ever developed at Ramsey to help you figure out what you're good at, where you ought to go with your

career direction to take you towards your talents, your passions, all of that. It's incredible. So an assessment code is included with the new book because the new book is there to describe to you the results of the assessment and what to do with it. And so that's what this does. So if you have never taken the assessment, you can get the book. It comes with an e-book with an assessment, an audio book with an assessment code, and the hardback book. So you get three of the assessments to give to friends and relatives or whatever, and the books to help you tell how to do it.

And it comes out, and it's on pre-sale right now. You can get it, but we'll actually ship them in early May. Yeah, I've had friends, we've had family take that assessment stuff it really is it's really really well done it's huge it's fabulous zach is with us in dallas hey zach how are you doing well how about yourself better than i deserve how can i help so i'm getting married this december uh my fiance currently has a a 2006 Mustang that's starting to fall apart. I would like to get her a new vehicle after we're married, or we would like to get a new vehicle after we're married, not as a wedding present, just as getting her something better that's more

reliable. I currently make about $110,000 a year. I'm debt-free. I own a house my parents gifted me. What is an acceptable budget to get her a vehicle? And one reason I'm asking is her family's very judgmental and causes problems whenever she gets new things or nice things. So I'm trying to find a budget that won't get too much flack from them, but also gets her in a nice, reliable vehicle. Well, I would be looking at the latter, Zach. I think that first part of worrying about what they think, that's going to be a long, exhausting life that you're going to live if that's a filter that you use. And so I think it's a good practice for this to be the first purchase

that you guys make solely as a couple based on your numbers, which you guys want. And regardless of the judgment, that probably will be coming because how you guys are set up already with a paid for house. You have no debt. You make great money. You guys will probably be purchasing some things in the near far future that they will be judging probably a lot throughout your marriage so i think it's a good practice to say here's our first you know the first purchase we're going to make as our own family unit and it's going to be a stretch for you guys mostly but i would do that and then looking at the numbers uh do you do you have any money saved about 125 000 in the bank you're a stud good for you how old How old are you? 21. You're killing it, man. You're 21.

You are so killing it. I'm so proud of you. Great job, Zach. Man, she got a catch. You're something else. I'm six classes away from graduating with a degree. I have no college debt, and I work about 70 hours a week right now. What's your degree in?

Business management. You're going to be a multimillionaire. You're amazing. So nice.millionaire you're amazing so nice good for you good for you so the rule of thumb on cars is they go down in value you know that yes a guy like you knows that already i don't that's not something i have to teach you so we tell folks don't buy things with motors and wheels, boats, sea-dos, snowmobiles, and tractors. Don't buy things with motors and wheels that all add up. When you add up all your stuff with motors and wheels to more than half your annual income,

because it all goes down in value. And so, in your case, you make $100,000. You're talking about spending $20,000 on her, and you're well in range, right? Yes. Yeah, it's no big deal. yeah she doesn't need a 70 000 car doesn't fit your budget yeah okay no we were looking at a a new honda crv which runs about 38 to 40 okay i would not do a new one unless you've got a million dollar net worth and you don't so I would hold back on that. But maximum, when you're done, your car plus her car does not need to be more than 50% of your take-home pay and pay cash. Okay?

Okay. So, I mean, 50% of your gross annual. So your gross annual together is going to be what? She's currently a full-time student. What's her degree in? It's in archaeology when she graduated she really wants to be 20 25 okay so at the time you're doing this it's going to be your income and you make what 70 110 110 i'm sorry okay so 55 total what's your car worth uh my truck is worth about $50,000. Okay. Well, you're way over.

Okay. So, you know, $15,000, $20,000 for her max, and then don't do this again. It's the only dumb thing you've done in the whole story you told me. You really have got your act together except that truck. Was it paid for? You paid cash for the truck? I did. It was the job I got.

I needed to have a $21,000. You did not need a $50,000 truck i don't care what job no it's my biggest regret so far it's your biggest mistake so far everything else in your story is fabulous so you you've been really smart but you got two you're gonna have too much tied up in cars and don't do it again but you're 21 you got the rest of your life to do smart so you're fine everything's okay you're great you're great now when you buy her a 25 or a $20,000 car or something like that which is about what the used crv in other words um to put her in something nicer back to the other part of the question um rachel's right trying to please judgmental people uh that you love and you actually care about their judgment is exhausting and so i i you're a really nice young man and i want to teach you to continue to be nice to them uh on the outside

but in the inside when they start talking like that i just want you to say none yeah so they none of your business don't like me already i don't care frustrated they deal with her yeah that's fine. None of you. She needs to learn to hear in her head when they start something, just go none of you. Because let me tell you how many times one of my grown kids called and asked me if they should buy a car. Zero. Or asked me when they should have a baby.

Zero. Which is appropriate, by the way. They don't need my permission. They're what's known as grown. Okay? And I, do they, you know, Rachel drives one of those rolling batteries. I mean, I don't, why would, why would, why would I condone that? I wouldn't condone that Tesla stuff.

It's not like a real car. So, and they catch fire. I'll beat you on the interstate you will you beat me in the parking lot too I've seen you but the uh but the uh I'm kidding around but you know we so we could just have fun with it and that's the extent of my judgment yeah but there's a relationship fact I mean they're fractured already before they even enter the marriage Zach what's I'm just curious I mean she's still in school and I had a semester left of college when I got married in December so there's no judgment on Zach, I'm just curious. I mean, she's still in school and I had a semester left of college when I got married in December. So there's no judgment on my end.

I'm just curious, what's causing kind of like a level of urgency to get married now? If she has a full year left, you're still in school and the parent, that's not great with the family. Like, what's the, is it just you guys love each other and this is it? For the most part, yes. That's really all there is to it is that we've dated for two years, we're ready to get married, ready to move in, and see less of a reason to wait than we do to go ahead and get married. Gotcha. Okay. I was just curious. We want to live together and start our lives, and we want to do it the right way, and so marriage was the next step. Good for you. Great. Well, what's going to happen is you're just going to go pick up henry cloud's book boundaries

because that's what i'm saying is just you got to have boundaries just say you smile at them and go yeah okay um but you if you filter your decisions through what they think rachel's exactly right it's going to be exhausting because you cannot anticipate what crazy is going to do that's why it's known as crazy so and you'll never make them happen you could buy a five thousand it doesn't matter what you do you know yeah it's it's not because and the point is you know you reach a point that you're not doing anything for them and that point is the day you say i do which is the which you're in the hardest season though i mean from an age-wise young you know the the amount of time from a parent's handoff to the real world i mean the older you get and the more

life experiences and more decisions you make the easier it is this is the hardest this will be those hard that the hardest season uh to feel that and actually walk through those motions and so you guys together it's like you just lock arms and just say and even have like a funny code if you guys go to christmas and they make a comment just like have a thing with each other of like i'm just gonna like scratch my ear and be like i'm dying inside but but just me and you know right like you gotta like just you gotta have fun with it and lean on each other. But congratulations, Zach. We're excited for you guys.

Now I'm looking for funny codes. This is The Ramsey Show. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships.

Rachel Cruz, number one best-selling author, host of The Rachel Cruz Show, co-host of the Smart Money Happy Hour. Both Ramsey Network hits and my daughter, Ramsey Personalities, my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225 rachel this is right up your alley let's jump in and do the uh question of the day it's financial literacy month and one of the ways we're celebrating is taking questions from students in high schools that are teaching our high school curriculum foundations in personal finance um and by the way te Texas and South Carolina have just mandated, the latest two states, to mandate that personal finance be taught as a graduation requirement in their high schools.

Salute to you two states. Well done. There's a time that the legislature in your state did good work. And, of course, we're one of the options that the are adopted by your state board of education whatever it is and have adopted us in both cases which means we're one of the options the schools are selecting from and we're honored that a whole bunch of schools in both of those states are now going to add this so today's question comes from a student at bb high school yes and it says if you are a natural spender how do you learn to save when your tendency is to spend oh that's

my kind of question but it's you and me both we're both natural spenders just on the break too i was like just buy the thing dad we're talking about something anyways um yeah i mean i think for me i had to i i realized two things pretty quickly number one i realized if i didn't save at all then the amount of stress the future rachel of what she would want to do like all of that is gone right there's there's something there to say i'm going to plan for the future and And that's motivating to me. So that kind of helped get this rhythm for me to be able to say, OK, the savings is there. And there is to a point it's a spender. And again, I think savers have their negatives.

We can talk about that. But the spender negative at times is we can get in a rhythm of like, oh, if I just that thing is exciting to buy and I get some excitement from it and then that excitement fades and it may fade an hour after you buy the thing. It may fade a week after you buy the thing, but eventually that excitement fades. And if you depend on your happiness or your joy in life to be on that type of excitement, you're going to be a rat in a wheel for the rest of your life. And it becomes a contentment issue at that point, not just a money, dollars and cents issue. and so that part's very important and that's a hard one I mean the contentment idea is really difficult I think as spenders can kind of be that

rat in a wheel at times and just get get get and so understanding where your joy your happiness your identity even comes from and and one question I even ask myself Dave when I buy stuff for me is I filter through the question if nobody sees this purchase do I still want it like is there any motivator for what whether it's a compliment or what someone's going to think about me like is that any level of you never posted online that you had bought this yeah or you went on that vacation if nobody knew like whatever it is in the woods and no one is there it's a spinner still spending yeah so it's just uh making sure the motives you know are healthy it's really good that is healthy because that's trying to get affirmation from others based on the label is a real problem for spenders. So spending as a reformed spender myself, a matured spender, I still spend.

It's still my natural bent, but I'm also a math nerd. So I came up with two things that caused me to do it in my case. One is I knew if I saved more, I could spend more because I would have more. And so the quality of car i drive today far exceeds the quality of car when i didn't save back in the day and i was a broke person so uh yeah you get you get a better life you know and a better spender life and the second thing is not always true but in the 30 something years i've been doing this more often than not, it's a generality, but more often than not,

spenders are also generous people. They like to give and you can't give if you're broke. And if you give a thousand dollar car or a $2,000 car to a single mom and it changes her life, what if you did 10 of them and you changed 10 of them's life for 20,000 car to a single mom and it changes their life what if you did 10 of them and you change 10 of them's life for 20,000 instead of 2,000 you can't do that if you're broke and so the way you get that 20,000 to give is to save it and so the enjoyment of money is what a spender likes and the enjoyment of giving the enjoyment of the generosity but also the enjoyment of consumption

too and so both of those are what drive um me in the situation but i think your answer was probably better overall it really was i mean you know it's because you know it it the problem with spenders is is that we're worshiping at the idol of stuff if we're not careful. Yes. And if you bow down to that idol, you will find it's a false idol. It does not deliver. Yep. It does not deliver satisfaction. And to swing on the other end of the spectrum, because I talk about this in my book, Know Yourself, Know Your Money,

that that's the downside of the spender. And that's real, very, very real. But there is a downside of a saver where you become so control freaked tight-fisted hoarding mentality that there's almost this level of of stress because you just have the money I mean like you almost can't find the peace either right because you're holding on so there's not a big enough savings to get peace yes so it's kind of on that other end too so savers we're not leaving you off the hook yeah well I mean it's uh and Larry Burkett used to say it well. He said there's a difference.

The only difference between saving and hoarding is not the amount. The only difference is saving and hoarding is the intent. You know, why are you doing this? Yeah. What's it for? Because hoarders are, I might need that someday. Savers are, I might need that someday. You know, and it's this idea that you're going to get from something money can't give you yes

yes which is contentment is peace there's not enough money to you can't have a big enough pile of money to uh for it to serve you you have to I mean for you to serve it you have to it has to serve you yeah and so if you're trying to get from stuff spenders joy and contentment it's going to come up short you eat enough lobster it tastes like soap and i like lobster but uh if you if you're doing if you eat enough fine dining it's no longer fine um and and so you know it doesn't matter and and as soon as you get a really expensive car you you know you you get a real problem with where to park it because somebody will bounce a door off of it

like it's a basketball and then go, oh, did I do that? Yes, you just did that. Yeah, and then your whole enjoyment's wrapped up and like, oh my gosh, this thing. Yeah, and now I'm worshiping this thing and ready to kill this person. Oh my gosh.

And it's just like, ergh. But yeah, that's all that is. That's the thing. You just live in this world where the stuff you're asking stuff or a pile of money depending on whether you're a saver or spender to do something for you it can't that's right that was your point it was a better point than mine that's good it's true it's all true of a good point and uh god is not fond of idol worship It comes up early and often in Scripture, and that's what this comes down to,

is where are you trying to get joy from? And so if you, I like our friend the minimalist title, it's use stuff, not people. Yes. You know, that's a good thing. And don't let stuff use you. That's the deal. And when you've got a $1,200 car payment, you're being used.

Hello. This is the Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Thank you for joining us, America. We're so glad you're here. Hey, we are really excited about this upcoming Total Money Makeover event weekend here on the Ramsey campus. Rachel and I and George Campbell and Jade and Dr. John Deloney and Ken Coleman, we're going to be doing a weekend-long event, the Total Money Makeover weekend. We want you to join us. We're going to help you get real healthy money habits that'll

really change your relationship with money for good. We're covering all the things you want to know, how to get out of debt, how to create a budget with every dollar, how to communicate with your spouse about finances, how to ease anxiety around money, how to invest and build the retirement of your dreams, how to increase your income so that you can do all of these things. What is the key things that when woven together give you a very high probability of not only getting a handle on this money stuff, but becoming wealthy? We're going to take you all the way through it. This weekend long event is the ultimate motivator to get you fired up and excited to live the life you've always wanted. We're going to be doing a live taping of the hit podcast,

Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel and George. We're going to have lots of Q&As throughout the weekend and all the personalities, me, Rachel, Dr. Deloney, George Campbell, Jade Warshaw, Ken Coleman. Don't wait to get your tickets. This thing is not sold out yet, and you can still get them. We would love to have you get get them at ramsey solutions.com slash events we'll start on friday evening and go through saturday evening and uh if you get a little bit here a little bit early you can watch the show this show happened on the glass from one

to four central time um and that's free for anybody but you can certainly make that a part of your plan to do the whole thing later on i, I'll be speaking on Friday night. They'll be doing the Smart Money Happy Hour on Friday night. And then all day, we're going to. If you bring a reluctant spouse, they won't be reluctant anymore when you leave. If you bring a friend that thinks you're crazy for doing this stuff, they will be just as crazy as you when they leave. We're going to teach you how to do this stuff.

And, man, when you get in that kind of an all-immersive setting, you can't come away. It's like taking a cram course on all the stuff you should have known about money. It's going to be this stuff. And man, when you get in that kind of an all immersive setting, you can't come away. It's like taking a cram course on all the stuff you should have known about money. It's going to be so fun. Yeah, it's gonna be great. These events are, they are, they're really fun. I mean, it's, it's being in a room with it. There's energy, there's people, there's learning. There's me. Yeah. We bring hopefully lots of laughter and storytelling and it's relaxed and it's fun. I mean, just come hang out with us. It's going to be, it's going to be a really great event.

It's life changing. Yeah. Ramsey solutions.com slash events to get your tickets. We'll be doing this. Of course, may, uh, what is it?

What's the dates on this thing? Uh, may 10th through 11th, 10th and 11th. Okay. That's it. I should have been on here, I guess.

Okay, cool. All right. Uh, let's go to Kenneth in Rochester. Hey, Kenneth, welcome to the Ramsey Show. What's up? Hi, Ramsey. How are you guys doing today?

Better than we deserve. What's up? So I'm a relatively new listener, but I've been watching your videos for the past couple weeks now at work, and I keep hearing you take miniature jabs at SoFi. And so as somebody who uses SoFi, I was wondering if there is a reason you don't like the app and if you would recommend an alternative.

Well, SoFi is a bank. Yeah, I know. You know that, right? Sorry, not app, bank. Okay, they're a bank, and they sell debt. Sorry, I... They sell debt. Okay.

That's what they do. Everything in the app is designed amongst all this cheesy, acting like they care about you bull crap, but they don't care about you. They're trying to sell you debt. They're basically, you know, Bank of America in a millennial clothing. That's all they are. I mean, they're a bank.

They sell credit card debt. They sell student loan debt. They sell mortgage debt. They sell home equity loan debt. It's where they make all their money. They're a bank. They sell debt. You know that, right?

Yeah, I was just wondering if there was something more to it because like from what i've listened to in your videos it seems like basically every bank does that so i was wondering if there was a reason why you usually call out sofi specifically i i call out bank of america fifth Bank, and Chase pretty regularly too, right? Because they're large mega banks that don't have a soul and don't care a dad-blame thing about their customer. They're there to milk you. That's their whole job. The only difference in SoFi and those other guys is those other guys just tell you,

we're here to screw you. And SoFi puts it all in all this little sweet millennial nurturing clothing, and it's just a bunch of crap. It's so hypocritical, it's unbelievable. And they have a great arena. And they have an arena. The sofa, or stadium. I always make fun of that.

I just go, sofa, right? That's when you hear me picking on them, right? But, I mean, it's... It's just the big corporations. They are not your friend. So, if there was an alternative, Kenneth, it is more the credit union, your local bank, a state's wide bank wide bank a regional bank

yeah going more localized with your banking is is a better way because you're actually going to talk to people too but they have most of the local community banks and credit unions have at least a bit of if not a really good soul and they actually will treat you like a human being in the process if you have to go and sit down with somebody these guys you know they serve the stockholder these mega banks they get one thing they need one thing from you your money that's it that's all they want and so um and it's just it is kind of you know when you watch their ads it's's like, oh, come on. Really? I mean, but I guess people believe it. Well, they're good. I mean, their marketing is pretty fantastic.

It makes you sound like that they actually care. You know, it's a hoot. But they don't. I mean, I promise you. I'm not mad at them. I mean, they just is who they is. They're just another mega bank. That's all they are.

They're out of San Francisco, which is where Bank of America was born. And the Visa card, which was when it was born, was called the Bank AmeriCard, was the birth of Visa. That's the DNA of Visa. It comes out of that same place. It's the same problem. So, yeah, no, it's not. It's not. I don't.

But I don't hate SoFi more than Bank of America. Our whole thing here, Kenneth, is we want what's good for you. We want somebody, you know, and so when somebody is, you know, not taking care of the consumer, then there's a good chance, like timeshare people or something, that I'm going to say something negative about them. Yeah, for sure. Well, and I think there's a point there, too, just to realize and be on guard, Kenneth, of how great we mentioned, like, their marketing is, like their commercials and stuff. You're like, oh my gosh, and if they're that good on that side, they're going to be that much, like their commercials and stuff. You're like, oh my gosh. And if they're that good on that side,

they're going to be that much better on all their online products. You're going to be in it. And you may not even realize, oh my gosh, I'm getting, you know, this here, this here, this here. And the ultimate, yeah, product is debt because they're making interest on you. I mean, all of it. It's how most banks are making all their money.

And so they're just really good at it. So be aware. Billions and billions of dollars trying to get your money. Yep. It's their thing, man. I mean, and so, and Wells Fargo. I mean, that's the other one we can drop in there. The level of fraud that company's gone through is unbelievable.

So, I mean, but it's, you know, what you're looking for is a bank that their whole existence is not built on trying to milk you like yesterday's cow. I mean, that's really what you've got to get your head around. And so, yeah, I do business with a bank or two or three. But none of them loan me money because I don't borrow money. So it's not an option. But just be careful when you're playing with snakes because they bite. That's the whole point. Yeah.

And I think, too, a question we're getting a lot is where to hold my checking. And we talked about the alkyl bank. But then a lot of questions about high-yield savings account. That's one of the biggest right now because the interest rates are so great. So even online banks are another great option. I'm fine with an online bank, but again, watch what you're doing. I mean, like, okay, because are they using the high-yield savings account as the loss leader to get you in there so they can milk you

with credit cards and home equity loans? And are they going to just completely hammer you over and over and over and over and over again? Because that is the business that they're in. The margins in that stuff is, it's incredible. Yeah. It's incredible the amount of money banks make. And so you just have to watch what's going on with that. And so, yeah, anybody that's going to take that and so yeah anybody that's gonna take advantage you know that's not

doing a stellar job for the consumer especially in a financial arena yeah i'm gonna call them out by name and i have for 35 years so i don't know that i'm but i i don't recall being harder on sofi than i was those other banks but other than i sneeze and say so five because i think it's funny but other than that i don't you know it's not i's funny. But other than that, I don't, you know, it's not. I hear Bank of America more from you than SoFi. I can't stand them. I know. They're just awful.

It's just, why would anybody do business with those people? This is The Ramsey Show. This is The Ramsey Show, where we prove every day that having common sense is like having a superpower in America today. Thanks for hanging out with us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, best-selling author. My daughter is my co-host today. Oksana is with us over in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Hi, Oksana. How are you? Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. It's an honor Carolina. Hi, Oksana. How are you? Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. It's an honor to speak with you. You too. What's up? Well, so my husband and I, we have made some really dumb choices, and so I just wanted to get some of your wisdom.

We bought a house. We moved to Charlotte like two years ago, bought a house that needed a lot of remodel before we could live in here. And so we didn't calculate what it would take, of course. So we just were not very smart financially. We were not disciplined and I'm just disgusted from our lack of discipline. So now we're on our every dollar budget and I feel like we're finally getting control of our money. So my question would be, would it be wise for us to sell our house in order to get out of debt or should we find a way to get rid of our expensive car and work our way out of debt that way? Is the house renovation renovation complete? It's livable. We're living in it, but it is not complete.

Okay. And so if we don't sell it, you've got this need staring you in the face to continue to fix it up, right? Yes. We're slowly working on it, like, every weekend because my husband does construction, so it's already his, like, expertise.

Yeah. Okay. every weekend because my husband does construction so it's already his like expertise yeah okay um generally when i find folks in that situation by the time you're a couple years into it like you all are you're you're sick of this house i'm sick of our debt because we know what i'm talking about that's different that's different That's a different subject. You're living in sawdust all the time and drywall dust. Yes. That is true. Yes. This is our third house with renovations. It's never finished.

Yeah. And it's a perpetual state of construction. Yes. And most people, some people are okay with that, but it's not unusual for me to talk to someone that's sick of living in those conditions with no hope of it ending anytime soon. Is that true of you or is that not true of you? It's okay if you're different and you just love it. It's okay.

No, I don't love it, but I do see a light at the end of this tunnel, finally. Where? How far out? This house. Probably by the end of summer, we should be done. Oh, okay. That's not bad. That's a reasonable light. So I do see a light, but I have been very sick and tired of living in a construction home forever. home like forever so so that's so regardless of the other part of the discussion you guys need to write that down and he needs to hear you because he does he's not sick of living in construction he does it every day it doesn't bother him because guys will live under a bridge i mean we're not i mean we'll live anywhere but ladies somehow need a little different

set of situation. And that's reasonable to me. But I, you know, so, cause I can live in a construction situation, but, um, but I, but not with my wife. So, cause she's not going to live there. College home and walk through a girl's college home. And there's your answer. There's your answer.

That's it. Yeah, so all of that to say, going forward, don't do this again. Not because of the debt, but because it's not how you want to live. You've done it enough, okay? Yeah. That's just some advice. Okay, now, how much debt do you have? We have $137,000. and how much of that is the expensive

car yeah it's uh 68,000 and that's his truck no it's our everyday driving car what is it it's a Toyota 4Runner oh okay it okay. It's your car. Okay. Yeah. All right. Okay. And what's he drive? I'm sorry. I said 68. It's actually 59.

The 68 is credit cards. He drives just a van, a work van. Okay. And the 68 was from the renovation, right? Yeah. Renovation and random stuff like going out to eat okay all right and you stopped all that all right so what's your household income yes well it dropped a lot since moving here because we had to start back up from scratch and last year we made 47 000 but this year i'm

projecting it's going to get a lot better because just in apr we're going to get about $10,000 in just the month. What do you think you're going to make in 2024? I'm going to guess like $70,000 or more at least. That sounds right. Sounds good. Okay. And what do you owe on the house? On the house we owe $405,000. $405,000. What's your mortgage payment every month? Our mortgage is $2,473.

How have you been making a mortgage payment, making $40,000? Credit cards. Wait, what was the question? How are you making a $2,000 mortgage payment making $40,000? Honestly, we've been borrowing from people, and it's been really tough. I don't know if you can afford this house. We're moving here. Yeah. You need to be making a take-home pay of $8,000 a month,

which is $110,000 a year to afford this house. Really? So without talking about even the debt? Not counting the debt. Really? Yeah, your take-home pay should, your house payment should not be more than a fourth of your take-home pay. Otherwise, you put yourself in a pinch.

And so do you see your way to $110,000 income from 70 in the following year? What was his high point before you left the other place? Like $120,000 a year. Yeah, okay. Can he get back there in another year after this year? I'm hoping, and it looks like it's going up. It's like going up pretty fast all of a sudden, and he's a very hard worker, so I could see that happening.

I'm not questioning his work ethic. I'm questioning his work ethic yeah yeah questioning his math ability i would but i would sell the car i'd sell the car and i'd keep the house and if your income does not go up to 120 by the end of 25 you need to sell the house oh okay that makes sense because you know but we need to get rid of the car now and um okay and then you start chipping away at the credit card debt as your income comes up you'll be able to do that but if you're if you're living on a seventy thousand dollar income then your take-home pay is going to be somewhere in the 55 range after taxes

and you know that's 4,500 bucks a month and almost 50 percent of that's going to a house payment then and so it's very upside So you work for upside down? Like on the difference, how do we pay that difference? You're upside down on the house? Or the car? No, no, no, on the car. Oh, I got you. What could you sell it for?

We can sell it for $55,000 probably. Who said? $50,000 to $55,000. Who said? Oh, I just looked on Facebook, like what people are selling it for. Okay. Go to Kelly Blue Book, kbb.com, and look at private sale. That is an accurate number.

Very little on Facebook is true. What about J.D. Power? I also got a quote there. That would be okay. Did you look at a private sale on J.D. Power? Yeah, it was 54. Okay, that's what the car is worth. It's worth 55.D. Power? I also got a quote there. That would be okay. Did you look at a private sale on J.D. Power? Yeah, it was $54,000. Okay, that's what the car's worth. It's worth $55,000.

Okay. And you owe $59,000, so you've got to come up with $4,000 to sell it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And replace a car. I don't know how to work with a bank. Oh, we just find the cash for it and just pay that? Yeah, a cheap cash car, a a hoopty because you're broke people

but you'll probably have to take out a small loan oxana possibly to make the difference of that four grand and a little bit of money to to replace the car five thousand dollar car yeah you need you know ten thousand dollar loan instead of a uh fifty nine thousand dollar loan so yeah that's going to move you in the right direction but yeah you need to get rid of the car. And then you need to say, if we don't get our income up to the 120 mark by the end of 2025, then we've got too much house. And Oxana, hold on the line. And Austin and Taylor are going to pick up. And we want to give you guys Financial Peace University and EveryDollar Premium. Or you said you were doing Every Dollar. So if you have that, no worries.

But watch nine lessons with you and your husband. And you guys get on the same page with this because that's a really helpful course to get these basics down. And so you guys can really go full steam ahead. When you have that knowledge and you start working and creating these new habits, it's going to be so helpful for you guys. It really is. I see the light at the end of the tunnel for you guys. I think you're on the cusp of change. It's right there. You just need that little extra push. So we're cheering for you guys, though. Yeah, you are. You're going to make it. You're going to be okay. And if the house is worth a lot more than $400, yeah, you might want to sell it. That'd be cool, too.

Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Aaron is with us in Oklahoma City. Hi, Aaron. How are you? I am very well, Dave. How are you and Miss Rachel doing? Better than we deserve, sir. How can we help? Well, I have a question about I have some money sitting in a savings account

that I wanted to see your advice, but as I told the screeners, I have a fairly complicated backstory, if you want to hear it. Sure. It would affect the decision, yeah. Absolutely, yeah. So, So I am a three-time cancer survivor, but also a current cancer patient. About two years ago, I was diagnosed with a stage four incurable and have been doing really well for two years. But, you know, when they tell you that, you fear the end is near every day. So my history is roughly in, let's see, I have a 16-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a 9-year-old. And when my two older ones were very young, four and one, we started to do the Dave Ramsey plan. Sorry, I'm nervous.

It's okay. And, uh, we had a lot of debt at that time. Um, and, but we paid off all of our credit cards. We paid off my wife's student loans, uh, and a few other little things. Um, and then in 2012 is when I got, uh, well, originally I had cancer in 2000 and yeah, exactly 2000. And then in 2012, uh, had another issue, had to have a surgery and remove part of my kidney and, uh, started to have to pay some, uh, medical stuff. And it kind of derailed where we were. So for the next, I don't know, nine or so years, we lived on a budget. We still were prudent with our money, but we weren't really getting ahead. And then bought our own pharmacy, bought our own business,

had it for 10 years, and in 2022, we sold it, and I made a fairly decent amount of money. But then that was in March, and then in the end of June is when I got diagnosed with this stage four terminal cancer. Okay, so my question is, from the sale of that business, we put put $320,000 or so in savings. I had to use about $50,000 of that for medical expenses and to live. And then fairly recently, I have opened five two nines for all three kids, but I've only put $10, only put 10 in each. So a total of 30. So what I'm looking at is 240,000, uh, in, in cash savings that I, my question is, do I, well, I want you to just kind of guide me, but my, in my head thought process was, uh, do I continue to invest in five, two nines? Do I pay down on the house um in preparation to try to

obviously help uh my wife and kids if and when i do go sorry that's a lot and no it's fine what do you what do you owe on your home 284 okay and what's your household income today since you sold the business? Well, I've since moved on and got a new job. Combined, we make about $150,000, $155,000. Okay. Well, I think together. So what's your wife make? She brings home around $800 every month.

I mean, she works part-time, takes full-time taking care of the kids. Yeah, okay. Do you have life insurance? I do. I have roughly $1.3 in term. Okay, all right. And I have about 70, combined we have about $75,000 1.3 in term. Okay. All right. So. And I have about 70 combined. We have about 75K and 401K ROPS.

Good. So what I want to do if I'm in your shoes is put together a plan that works if I live through this and a plan that works if I don't. Okay. Is that okay? I believe so. I think that's what I don't. Okay. Is that okay? I believe so, yes. I think that's what you're asking. Yeah, yes, because I do believe in miracles. I'm fine with either one, whatever God chooses, okay?

Yes, sir. And so before we do that, have you got your will done? In the process. Okay. And your wife's will as well. Okay. In the process. Yes.

Okay. And that doesn't need to drag out. You need to do that now. Okay. Very important to get that wrapped up because that will change things in the emotional state of both of you to have had that done. It's a weird thing, but it gives you a level of peace and get her a level of peace because it's all dialed in. That box is checked. Do you know what I'm saying?

Yes, sir. And it's also like if you've got your spiritual life arranged, like you know where you're going, right? Yes, sir. Okay. So you're walking with God, right? Amen. Yes, I am.

Okay. All right. So that's, you know, not one less thing to worry about. So, you know, to die at this point is gain then. Yes. Those of us that are people. It's hard to accept that with a nine-year-old kid, but you are correct. I get it.

I get it. There's the spiritual understanding and the intellectual understanding and the emotional acceptance. I don't know if I could deal with it. I don't want to trade places with you, but I'm just talking through what I would do if I were in your shoes. I'd want to make sure I had these things arranged. That gives me a foundation to arrange the rest of it. Does that make sense? Because what I found is I get when I'm facing hard

stuff, if I address each of the buckets in the hard stuff, then I've done all I can do, and then the rest is the ride. And so the will, your spiritual walk and condition, all of that. And then we say, okay, if you pass away, she's got $250,000 in the bank. She's got $1.1 million in insurance coming. So she's got $1.3 million, and she writes a check and pays off the house that day, sits down with a smart investor pro. Oh, by the way, you could probably go ahead and do that now and let her and you develop a relationship with this uh an investment broker that understands what's going on and okay if if she walks in here with a paid for house and a million dollars we're going to invest that and

she can live off the proceeds live off the income it creates and raise the kids and not have to work. Because I think she can probably live on $100,000 a year, can't she? Yes. Okay. All right. So if you lay that out, now that's the if I die scenario. The house is paid off. We invest in mutual funds with the balance of the insurance money,

and then we know that financially the kids are going to eat and go to college we're good i would not do 529s with this money um okay and now if you live longer uh you're going to need this liquidity to fight this uh because you're you're probably at a uh it sounds like you're in alternative treatment stage. Is that right? No, no, no. I'm actually doing very well. I tell people I'm in really good shape for the shape I'm in. Okay, okay. So you're still doing straight chemo?

I'm doing chemo every 21 days. I work 46 hours a week. If you need $50,000 to fly to XYZ country to begin a treatment that is beyond what your normal course of events are here to take another shot at this whole thing, you've got that money laying there. And I want to keep it laying there for you. Okay. I also want to keep it laying there if you guys decide you want to take, like, a family trip and create a memory. Yeah. That'd be okay, too.

That's a good use of this money. I've already paid for a trip at the end of May for us to go do that. Good for you. Okay. So I want to give you permission to use some of this money that way, and then if 10 years later we're sitting here and that money's gone but you're here i'm good with that that's a good investment yeah okay so kind of sit tight on it and yeah let's sit tight on it but sit down and lay out your plan of you know what i'm doing is

if you're alive i'm keeping this money liquid so we can take care of you and create the situation best situation for the family if you're gone've got this money plus the insurance money to pay off the house and invest. And we lay that out and put all those relationships in place to go there. So you've got a thing laid out. And then if I'm you, that gives me peace because I've got a plan to fight through this. And I think it's helpful to do that. Man, I'm praying for you, Aaron. You're a strong dude this is the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love

and create actual amazing relationships. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, number one bestselling author and host of the smart money happy hour with our own George Campbell on the Ramsey networks. And my daughter is my cohost today. Thanks for joining us, America. The phone number is 888-825-5225. Brandon is with us. Brandon is in Evansville, Indiana. Hi, Brandon. How are you? Hi, Dave and Rachel.

Thanks for having me. Pleasure to talk to both of you. You too. What's up? Yeah, I've got a question for you. This is a phone call compared to a lot of the ones you get to have. I've been listening to you since about 2007 or so. I'm debt-free except for the house right now. That's all about the change. I've got a significant windfall coming from work that's life-changing, essentially. I'm trying to get my ducks in a row. I've met with my financial advisor. I'm meeting with a CPA and a state attorney coming up here in the next two weeks. Wow. And so the real question

becomes the buckets, how they, the percentages, how they change the give, save and spend. And really kind of focusing on the giving portion on like what percentages do you give for that? And how do you make it put boundaries on that? So you don't find, you know, I don't think I have anybody like that. They would do it, but just,

you know, you don't know who's going to come out of the woodwork. Um, if you start giving money away, um, and I just want to be able to help out people. And then on top of that, on the back end of it,

just some of the other fun stuff we get to do with it as well. Yeah. How much money are you getting? Brendan? Yeah, itndan yeah it's it's in the seven figure range over a million bucks yeah wow good for you i'm so proud for you that's great way to go man you killed it how old are you uh about 40 way to go good for you man you're killing it it's Yeah. How much is left on the house, Brandon? About $100,000. Oh, my gosh. Okay.

So most of this is all for you guys. So it really does fall in the three buckets then. Okay. Yeah. And really just kind of, I don't know what percentages to put everything in. Obviously, you know, obviously give 10% is kind of an easy one. But then, you know, if I want to go either above that or just help others, my family. Are you attending a local church? Yes. Okay. Okay. So evangelical Christians teach and believe, and I'm one of them, that we give a tithe, a tenth of our income,

to our local church. Okay. And so I start with that on mine so when i get a check like you're talking about uh 50 is gone because 40 is going to stink in taxes and 10 is going to tithe so then the give save spend buckets are with the other 50 okay okay so let's just say you got a million dollars as an example okay and um you know and we're not talking about paying off the house because you're getting more than a million dollars so we'll just use a million dollars net so you're going to pay 400 000 in taxes on it and you know because you have to pay your fair share you communist and so you know you know how that is right a bunch of crap and so um you know like like it's like it's somebody else's money other than yours but he can't help himself brand

anyway i can't stop it it's close to april 15th this stuff just comes out i can't stop it but the anyway so okay so 400,000 400,000 is going to stupid government 10 going to your local church to tithe and other giving would come out of the 50 so i would add some other percentage out of that other 50 how you're going to break down that other 50 uh towards investing further and you know investing uh further generosity and enjoyment or lifestyle adjustment. Okay. Correct. And so if you put 10% on lifestyle adjustment, you've got $100,000 to blow and have fun with. Go on a trip, buy a car, whatever.

And that would leave you 40% for giving and for investing. If you put another 10 on additional giving, I'm just making these numbers up. There's not a wrong number or right number. Okay. Then you'd have another a hundred thousand to give. And that would leave you with 300,000 invested out of that particular million dollars. If it's 10 million, it's going to be 10 times that much. Okay. But so you look at percentages and lay those out ahead of time and then that sells you as you can sit down with your investment folk and go i'm getting ready to bring you a check for this to invest let's talk about what we're going to do with it and then you start talking about what ministries or charities we want to support with this money um and then you

start putting boundaries as you said on that to be a wise investor into God's kingdom with ministries and charities so you don't want you know like you said I'm not gonna I don't want to put this in a bad place and so but you can't keep some for an individual right if something comes up but you know and you want to buy someone a car or something you know what I mean you're able to yeah you can do that too but of course you know tax deductible is going to be going to that's true yeah if you if you're concerned about that at all it's going to be going to a 501c3 unless you form some kind of foundation and i don't know how much money you're getting but you're probably not in the foundation level yet um but um because it takes a bit of money to maintain that sucker. Brandon, I have a question. For this specific amount of money, is this kind of a one-time, like, oh my gosh, this just happened, it probably will never happen again?

Or are you in a position, career-wise, where this could be something that happens every three to four years? Do you know what I mean? It could happen more times over. Let's just say I got on the right bus and they put me on the right seat. So it all worked out well. Okay. Okay. That's good. Yeah.

So I think especially with that, putting these habits in place, because as this comes up, you'll start to know, oh yeah, it will start to flow more, right? As you lay this foundation. That's exciting what i didn't do when i got the first one of these is i i was very intentional with everything except um i just dumped the giving part in an account and then i had to clear it out by year end or i was going to get taxed on it and so i had to rush around at the end of the year and pick out some ministries to put it on. And I did that like two years in a row. And a guy who's a billionaire, I was sitting with him,

he said, you know, you would fire somebody if they managed your investments that way. You need to be better at investing God's money than that. You need to be as careful on investing his money as you are investing the money for yourself. And so you need to be doing due diligence on these ministries and checking them out and doing all this stuff. And that is what led me, because we were starting to have these events pretty regularly, to forming a foundation that Rachel's sister runs, the foundation, and she vets all these things now.

But at a minimum, you've just got to be thoughtful about who you're going to give it to. Because if you give $100,000 to a ministry that their whole budget is $100,000, you could screw them up. Yeah, I understand. Or if they're misbehaving with the money, or they're usually not misbehaving, they're just incompetent sometimes. Yeah, and giving a certain amount of money, you're right,

I think to smaller ones where you're the big donor, and if you stop giving for whatever reason in the next two years that they go under that brings some harm right so it is it's being really thoughtful and wise about the amount of money you give to each but that's the fun part brandon too is yeah figuring out what do you guys love as a family what are the things that you're like oh my gosh we want to we want to put our resources and our money towards this type of organization or that are doing, you know, it's doing clean water or rescuing kids out of trafficking or like, you know, you get to really figure out as a family, what are these things that we're passionate about?

And that's the exciting part about all of this. It can be so, it can be so helpful. It can be so, so helpful. We've had a lot of fun with it. This is The Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. Thank you for joining us, America. Every dollar is our world-class budgeting app that helps you manage money the Ramsey way.

Helps you give every dollar an assignment, every dollar a mission, every dollar dollar a name and it works wherever you are ios or android or online on your desktop you can start every dollar for free and immediately see where you stand with your money get organized personalize your budget stop the overspending start behaving it's cool yeah and new to every dollar we're going to show you a long-term financial roadmap track your net worth your debt-, we're going to show you a long-term financial roadmap, track your net worth, your debt-free date, your retirement date, show you in your baby steps how you're doing and progressing. We're going to walk with you, proactively coach you to build wealth and reach your goals. This app is blowing up.

Tens of millions of people using it. It's crazy how cool it is. So download the free app for iOS and Android or go to everydollar.com and get started on your desktop. We would love to have you part of the EveryDollar family. You can get started for free. Allison is with us in Los Angeles. Hi, Allison. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Hi, Dave. Thank you so much for taking my call today. Sure. What's up? So I'm 21, and I graduate next month with a degree in finance. Good for you. And thank you. And so I've been dating my boyfriend now for almost a year. And, you know, as I'm graduating and as we've been talking about our life together, our future together, we have the idea of moving to Texas has come into mind. And so the idea kind of came into play because my boyfriend has a buddy out there that he could work with and make more money than what he's currently making.

And I'm willing and open to the idea. However, I made it very, very clear to him when we started talking about the move that we both needed to have at least a couple thousand dollars saved up prior to the move. And I'm there. I have that money saved up. I'm pretty much ready to move after I graduate. And I've talked to him about potentially going and moving to Texas about one to two months before I do because in the whole time that we've been together, I've never seen him work full time. He's not in school.

He never went to college. And he works about 20 hours a week right now as a personal trainer in his own business. And so I kind of threw that idea out there for him. And he doesn't want to move out there without me because he thinks I won't follow him. But I genuinely believe that he doesn't want to move out there with me because he doesn't have the financial means to do so. And I think he wants me to be there with him so he can lean on me a little bit. But I've been burned in the past by an ex-boyfriend in a similar situation, and I lost thousands of dollars. And so I don't really know what to do.

He tells me that his financial status is none of my business, but I'm thinking for moving in together, it should be. Warning, warning, warning. I work 20 hours a week and my money's none of your business. Warning, warning, warning. The bells are going off in your head so loud that you can't even hardly speak around them. Aren't they?

Yeah. You have alarms going off all around you you just describe them to us very clearly i know yeah i know it's just a hard it's a hard reality it's a hard pill to swallow the reality of of what the situation is but i think you know it allison yeah and i just i've talked to him you know this also just, it impacts me a lot because, you know, as I said, I'm about to graduate. And so I started looking for jobs out in Texas, but we're kind of at the mercy of, you know, when his friend says he can come and he just believes that.

Yeah, so the problem is, Allison, you're building your life around somebody, number one, that you're not married to, right? I mean, you have no legal grounds on any level. And, you know, you've been burned in the past financially with relationships, as you said. And so you're following somebody that there is no true commitments and no true legal binding of anything, right? And so, I mean, that's red flag number one for me. And number two, yeah, there's so many splinters off of the situation that if I were your friends and sitting here, I would say, Allison, to be able to say, what is best for me? And is it moving to a place that you don't have a job right now, following a guy who won't even let you into his finances,

who hasn't had a pattern of doing well financially or work-wise because somebody of his X, Y, and Z, it sounds like a disaster. It really does. So, Allison, you are very wise for 21 years old because you've actually analyzed this pretty carefully. You've got all the key points in the decision. What's hurting is that it's leading you to a conclusion that is painful.

If you had a little sister, do you have a little sister? Yes, I do. How old is she? She's 12. Okay. So she's 21, and you're now 30. And she comes and gives you this scenario. What are you going to tell her?

I would tell her not to do it. Okay. Absolutely not to do it. All right. But the thing is, I'm in this place where I am worried that, because he treats me so wonderfully, and I'm worried that I'm never going to find somebody. He actually doesn't treat you wonderfully.

If he was working like 60 hours a week making $100,000 a year, showering you with gifts and paying for everything and asking you to marry him so that he can make a lifelong commitment to you, and then, honey, let's go off to Texas and make a wonderful life, that's treating you wonderfully. Not come over here so I can lean on you because I don't work much. That's not treating you wonderfully. It's not the definition of wonderful.

You would tell your little sister that. All I'm telling you is what you've already told me. I don't really know what's going on except what you told me. But I can tell you this. I have had these situations over the years where everything in my brain is telling me not to do something, but my heart is pushing me forward anyway. And I always look back and go, ouch. So there's a proverb, Proverbs 27, 12, that says,

I just looked it up because I couldn't remember exactly where it was when we were talking. And there's actually a book been written on it by Andy Stanley. But he says, a wise person sees danger ahead and avoids it. But a foolish person keeps going and gets into trouble and so yeah no kidding you know i mean that's you know like the proverbs kind of obvious and and but it's i've at times gone ahead anyway even though i knew down in my down inside of you you know your spirit is telling you you're better parts of Allison are speaking to you,

and you're saying, this guy's not yet eligible for a life partner. He hasn't earned the right for someone as good as Allison yet. He may be a sweet guy, but there's a lot of lazy guys that are sweet. Yeah. So what do you suggest i do i mean i we come from very very different financial backgrounds my parents are immigrants and they didn't get the opportunity to go to college and they worked so hard to be where they are today you know so your family is a family of work ethic yes Yes. And you are. You're a person who works. Yes. Tell him that.

Yes, I have two jobs. Tell him that. Say, I can't go with you until I see some financial responsibility and some work ethic. And his codependence on you, not just financially, but the idea that if he moves first and you may not follow and that scares him, that's not strength either. Right. Yeah. There's that,

that there's a emotional codependence there as well, Alison. And let me just say too, and I, you would say this to your sister if you were 30 and she was 21, he's not the only one. Oh God. He's not the only one else.

And I promise you you're 21. I promise you. Unless he changes. He's not the one either. Yeah. Okay. Cause he's not, he's not, he's not the one either. Yeah. Okay. Because he's not. You've not described to us someone that is worthy of you. That's right.

Yeah. And when you limit options and you think this is it, this is it. If I don't choose him, I'm never going to get married. You know, you start to lose the ability to make critical, rational decisions with your life. And I just want to tell you, there's more out there. And you can choose to stay in the relationship and he goes to Texas and you guys work on it and maybe something changes. But as of now, I would not move to Texas.

100%. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. We invite you, if you're in the Nashville or Franklin, Tennessee, which is just south of Nashville area, stop by our offices anytime. We'd love to have you. We do the show from 1 to 4 Central Time, Monday through Friday. There'll be two of us, Ramseysey personalities sitting here doing this exact thing. And you can come sit in the lobby and we make homemade cookies. So it smells like mama's kitchen

and they're free to you. And we make coffee and it's free to you. And people come and sit and watch the show. We have no idea why they do that, except it's free. And so and they're cheap. They're cheap people sitting out there right now. Y'all are cheap. No, they're so great. They're wonderful, cheap people. That's right. It's free entertainment. It's not great entertainment, but it's free. And so we love you. We're glad you're here. And on the debt-free stage, which is in that lobby, Sam is with us. Hey, Sam, how are you? Hi, I'm really excited and also nervous. We're all so excited to have you here and you no need to be nervous. We've never lost a patient. So where do you live? I live in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Wow, welcome to Nashville. So good to have you.

Thank you. And how much debt has Sam paid off? $163,000. Yeah. Nice. and how long did that take you 29 months good for you and your range of income during that time um i started at 53 000 and ended up at 155 000 oh my god what do you do for a living i am a researcher okay and how'd you kick your income so hard um so i actually the reason why i started or the reason I had a whole bunch of debt was because I have three degrees and my first job was kind of like an intern so I was only earning $53,000 and then. So what are your degrees in? I have a bachelor's degree, a master's in public health and then a doctorate in public health. Wow. do you do for a living um a researcher yeah public health researcher okay okay it was at all the 163,000 133 with student loans okay what was the other 30 um a car that i bought myself for graduating

we celebrated yes i got 130,000 in debt i'm gonna celebrate with another 30 yeah yeah very cool okay So what happened? How'd you find this Ramsey people stuff and start doing this stuff 29 months ago? The man over here. The man over here. Oh, there he is. Yeah. So when we first started dating, I would say maybe like four months into our relationship,

he sat me down and started talking about finances. And I do not talk about finances. I'm not from a family that talks about it and he asked me how much that I had and I was like okay these are not the questions and so I told him how much I had in student loan debt and he was like oh I like he was debt-free like I'm not prepared to really be married into debt and I was like okay well clearly what you're telling me is you don't want to be married because there's no way I can pay off all that money. And he introduced me to Dave Ramsey and the Baby Steps.

And I was like, okay, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to actually do this. So from that conversation, I realized I needed to get a higher paying job. I left my job at a university, found another job and started working two jobs to be able to pay off the debt. Wow. Okay. And I think I may see a ring. Yes. So did he say the traction's going? So I'm going to propose. Oh my. Okay. So after I paid off my debt that weekend, we went to celebrate paying off my debt and he proposed. So you're, so you're newly engaged, newly engaged.

Yeah, man. He's hardcore. He is hardcore. I wish you had another microphone. I would, I would want to interview him. I'm like, so many questions. Was it really that? No, that's so great though.

Good for you. And honestly, just doing it for yourself. I'm like, so many questions. Was it really that? No, that's so great though. Good for you. And honestly, just doing it for yourself. I'm like, yes, that's amazing. And to think that you went from, this will never be paid off. What are you talking about? To in a little over two years. It's really intense. It was a lot of sacrifices, very intense.

I didn't realize like the emotional toll that paying off my debt would actually have. What do you mean? So I assumed like, you know, you click the submit button on your payments and you just keep it pushing. But knowing like the sacrifices that you have to make when it comes to saying no to friends and family. I also moved from Philadelphia to a smaller town to lower my cost of living. And being away from friends and family in town to lower my cost of living. And being away from friends and family in Philadelphia was also a little bit isolating throughout the process. But, I mean, the emotions of like, okay, I need to get this done. And I'm a very get things done girl.

So right when I set my mind to it, I was like, okay. So you didn't, you didn't, you're such an intellectual academic type with your PhD that you thought this was an intellectual exercise. And then when you hit the submit button, you suddenly realized freedom is not an intellectual exercise. No. Yeah. I thought it was just, you know, you make your payment, you keep it pushing, but. That's pretty cool.

That's pretty cool. That's a beautiful picture. I like that. Very cool. You pretty cool yeah that's a beautiful picture I like that very cool you're amazing great great great smile she's got I know so beautiful okay so when you think back over those two years what was like the biggest thing that really helped you on this journey if someone's listening right now what would you tell them like here are one or two things that you have to do in order to do it in this this intensely because it's impressive you went for it yeah yeah I think the motivation for my now fiance then boyfriend um was very helpful I think uh you have to be very intentional I think

doing it like half piecing things together is not going to get it done. There were a lot of times where I'm like, OK, I want to kind of quit. But knowing that I am intentional, I put together a budget. I had spreadsheets of how long it would take me, what my payments would be every single month, making sure I'm like checking it off. Like I made this payment. I made this payment. And then like celebrating the small wins, I think, was really important because if I was just OK, I I got the car out of the way, I got this loan out of the way and just kept on going, it would have been exhausting. And just being able to be like, OK, I had this $5,000 loan I just paid off. Yay. OK, let's move on to the $10,000.

Let's move on to the $15,000. And then at the very end, I had $107,000 in federal loans, and that was probably the hardest one to pay off because it was all together. But I had celebrated so many of my small wins and like the steps that it kind of was like, oh, you did that already. So what is this? Like, let's do this. It's just, well, not just, but it's just a hundred and seven. Compared, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Way to go. Way to go. You're amazing. What a hero. Thank you. So when you graduated from high school, were you a valedictorian? Oh, no, no, no. I am an accidental academic. I had no intention of even honestly going to undergrad for my college degree. I was like, okay okay i graduated high school that's good um and i decided to get

my undergrad degree i stumbled into my master's degree and someone encouraged me to go for my phd so that was not the path i envisioned at all for myself and um ended up doing all of it so i think for i think that that was kind of how i viewed a lot of the debt-free payments. Like I had overcome so much just to get to where I was. And I was like, oh, okay, I could definitely do this. I've done stuff. One more hurdle. I did this.

I mean, I got a PhD. I got a master's. I can knock out a little bit of debt. A little bit of debt. I can do it. You're amazing. Thank you. Well done.

So great. Did you do any side hustles to up the income during it? Or was it mostly just salary? Yeah, actually it was all of it was salary. So I was working two jobs at the time. I had a job on the West Coast and a job on the East Coast. I would wake up early, do my job on the East Coast, then start my job on the West Coast to be able to juggle both of the different jobs.

And I was very excited when I paid off my debt because like turned in my two week notice. I was like, I can't do this anymore. I'm done. I'm done. Oh, that's so great. Do you have a wedding date? Yes. Next year, October 24th, 2025. Okay. We're so excited. Thank you. Thank you. Well done. Well done. Proud of you. I know he is, obviously. Who else was cheering you on? I honestly, I think I was introducing my friends to this. So it wasn't necessary. It was like education and bringing people into the fold.

A lot of my friends also have a lot of student loans. So having conversations with them about my journey, the importance of paying it off. And I was able to have those type of conversations and get them to a place where they wanted to also start paying off their debt, which is really exciting. That's awesome. That's awesome. Sam from Allentown. She's amazing. $163,000 paid off in 29 months, making $53,000 to $155,000.

Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. I'm debt free! Look at that ladies and gentlemen, that's what a hero looks like. This is the Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, Isaiah 55, 8 and 9, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts. Mary Kay Ash said, A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one Austin is with us in Cedar Rapids Iowa hi Austin welcome to the Ramsey show hi how are you today better than I deserve what's up hey? Hey, I've got a question. I'm recently married. I got married in November. Congratulations. Thank you.

We have one daughter. She just turned two, actually, a couple weeks ago. And I'm stuck in a hard place right now. We had a rollover loan that rolled over for an auto car. Um, so I have a 2015 Jeep that I'm, that I paid like $920 a month on. Um, on top of that, we have some credit card debt and we've hit a rock and a hard place. Um, you know, I'm 23, she's 23 with a two-year-old daughter. And I mean, after doing our taxes this year, I really sat down and I looked because I do my own taxes. That's one thing that my parents taught me before I moved out. So I did my own taxes and combined the two of us we made like 94 000 for the year and me and her

have absolutely nothing to show for it besides our little family and our daughter and and it's real frustrating because i'm not getting anywhere and i need to know what i need to do differently okay so for you guys the debt itself how much do you owe on the car total? I know you told us the car payment, but what do you owe total? Sure. So I have 38,000 that we owe on it yet. And it's a 2015 with 140,000 miles on it. And how did that end up being a $38,000 loan? So I personally sold my personal vehicle when I got my job because I have a company vehicle. So I eliminated my car payment period. Well, so this was all before we had our daughter. So we lived together since we've been 18, 17 at that.

We've been living together since we were 17 we dated for five years and we were kind of on that young and dumb stage so our money spending was was you know a snap of the finger we did what we wanted when we wanted we had how did you buy a car for 38 000 so we have a good relationship built with our bank she had rolled her first car so then she had to roll the money from her first i mean she rolled it you mean she turned she wrecked it correct yes okay and so she got a check for totaling the car right correct but it didn't pay off the loan because it wasn't worth that. Oh, okay, so she didn't have GAP.

Okay, and so how much was she in the hole on that? So I think they rolled like $3,000 or $4,000 over into the car she had, and then once we found out we were pregnant and we had the child, we turned that car into an SUV for the space, and that's where the rollover rolled again. So then it turned into instead of $4,000. Three cars, three car loans into this car. Negative equity, and that's how you end up with a car that's worth

a fourth of what you owe on it yeah okay all right it sounds like you got a great relationship with your bank they screw you pretty regularly well so we think it's a good relationship because i can make that phone call and say hey you know yeah and they just keep loaning you money and they completely messed you over they're just wonderful to you. Dude. Okay, so Austin, what? The snake bites me. I love it. I love it.

Do it again. Okay, what other debt, Austin, is there? There's the car. What else? Yeah, I was a firm believer in no credit cards. We got out on our own. I am now renting a house for us. We moved out of our mom and dad's house.

Okay. Is there any other debt? I had applied for three credit building credit cards because I have four credit. Let's just stop. Let's just stop. Okay. You make $94,000 a year. You guys have no idea where it's going.

We need to start with that. And so let's put you on the EveryDollar app. I'm going to give it to you. Okay? Okay. And you guys, the two of you are going to sit on the EveryDollar app. I'm going to give it to you, okay? Okay. And you guys, the two of you are going to sit down tonight, use that app. We'll line you up with it on the phone. And you all sit down and lay out a budget and tell EveryDollar of your income this month before it comes in what to do.

So it's already scheduled. EveryDollar is already scheduled out for the whole month, and you won't get to the end of the year and go, where the crap did $94,000 go? Because you're going to tell it what to do before it leaves. That's going to change your life. And the first thing you're going to tell it what to do is save $1,000. The second thing you're going to tell it what to do is start paying off your debts as fast as you possibly can,

and that means you're going to stay out of restaurants. Cut up the credit cards. You're going to cut up your credit cards. And it means you're going to quit buying crap you can't afford. And you're young and dumb, as you put it, season is over. Now you're young and smart, ready to go. Ready, set, go. I'm also going to plug you into our class, which 10 million people have been through, Austin. It's called Financial Peace University. I'm going to give it to you. If you promise me, you and your young little new wife will watch every stinking lesson and do everything I tell you to do. If you do, you'll get out of debt and become wealthy

and never again make $94,000 and wonder where it went. Does that sound good to you? Yes, please. I appreciate it. I've been listening to your show all day, eight hours of work in my earbuds, listening to your guys' podcast all day today. You can do that. I've been on hold for two hours. Yeah. And Austin, just know that there is hope in this. I'm like, there's people literally all over the country and even the world that have started exactly where you are.

You're normal. You are literally the epitome of normal in America, living paycheck to paycheck, making good money and having nothing to show for it, which are your words. I mean, that's literally you. And there is just a systematic plan and you have to do it specifically, like so intensely, every single step in the right order. I think coming to this conclusion, which I feel like you're at because you called, is saying what I've done and what I have chosen to do with money has not worked. And when you have that moment to say what I've done

isn't working, I'm going to have to do something totally different. And even if it feels uncomfortable, even if there's things in the plan that you're like, oh, well, we're going to kind of do this this way. No. Say, we don't know what we're doing. So we're going to follow a proven plan. And when you become so laser focused in this, Austin, you're going to look up in months, number one, once you start doing a budget and feeling control. But the amount of progress you guys can make in the next year or two, because it'll be a marathon. It's not going going to it's not going to just change overnight. It's a marathon in this. But you're going to start seeing that progress.

You really, really are. But you have to be committed to the actual plan. And I think that's where people get in trouble a lot is they try to do their own thing in the midst of trying to do it. So when you guys both lock arms, just be fully committed in this and you really will start seeing progress. Yeah, she's exactly right. Normal in America, 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck

with too much month left at the end of the money. Credit card debt, car leases, whole life insurance, time shares, and a student loan that's been around so long they think it's a pet that's normal in america let's just be real clear normal sucks you don't want to be normal normal's awful the last thing you want to be when normal is failing is normal and austin you're you're just one of many millions of people that live this way and the great news is what rachel said is true you can just decide to change today you can do it at 21 you can do it at 31 you can do it at 41 you

can do it at 51 you can even do it at 71. You can even do it at 71. People do it all the time. When what you're doing isn't working, you need to change. And it's the coolest thing happened. So we're going to help you, brother. You call us back if you've got questions along the way. And don't you deviate one iota from what we're telling you to do. Do it exactly. Doesn't give us any extra money when you do. It gives you extra money when you do. That puts us out of the Ramsey Show and the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace,

and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. We'll see you next time. Dr. John Deloney here. Mental and emotional health challenges, broken relationships, it's all just part of life, but they don't have to define you. The Dr. John Deloney Show is here to help. It's a collar-driven podcast where you can get practical advice on dealing with anxiety, loneliness, depression, relationship challenges, your kids, and so much more. Listen to questions from our callers, or if you're walking through a tough situation and need some help, give me a call. You were never meant to do life alone, and that's what this podcast is all about. Follow along on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or the Ramsey Network app.

Remember, you're worth being well.